British medal watch
Mo Farah progressed to the final of the men’s 1500m with
ease this morning, coasting to a third place finish in his heat which saw him comfortably
qualify. Sophie Hitchon set a new British record for the women’s hammer as she
also made her way through to the final of that competition. Steve Lewis has
qualified with ease for the men’s pole vault final. He vaulted 5.50m, which was
already good enough to progress, and so did not have to take any more attempts.
Nicola Adams will take home at least a silver medal from the
Game after reaching the final of the women’s flyweight division. China’s Ren
Cancan waits in the final, the favourite and three-time world champion.
Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark are guaranteed a medal in the
sailing women’s 470 class, going head to head with New Zealand’s crew in
tomorrow’s decisive race for the gold.
In the BMX time trial, which determines seedings for the
week’s races, Shanaze Reade qualified as fifth fastest. Reade is a multiple
world champion and one of the event’s favourites, having crashed out in the
same position in Beijing. Liam Phillips goes in the men’s event after being
ranked twelfth today.
Top news
Hungary came through an exciting extra-time encounter to
defeat Iceland in the men’s handball quarter-final. Iceland missed a penalty
then conceded an equaliser in the last ten seconds of regulation, and Hungary
made the most of it in extra-time to hold on for the win. They will face
Sweden, who overcame Denmark, in the semi-final. France edged a close game
against Spain and will face the winner of Croatia vs. Tunisia.
There was a busy day of finals in the Athletics, with
America’s Aries Merritt running a personal best to win gold in the 110m
hurdles. Dayron Robles, the defending champion, pulled up with a hamstring
injury during the race. Britain’s Lawrence Clarke put in a strong finish to
sneak into fourth place. Allyson Felix took the women’s 200m gold in a much
anticipated race. The women’s 400m hurdles was won by Natalya Antyukh of Russia
in a personal best time. The women’s long jump was won by American Brittney
Reese, with Britain’s Shara Proctor coming a lowly ninth.
Spain and Russia will meet in the semi-finals of the men’s
basketball after victories in today’s quarter-finals. Argentina beat Brazil in
their quarter and will face the winner of the ongoing Australia vs. USA match.
Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh-Jennings won a third
consecutive gold medal in the women’s beach volleyball after victory today in
an all-American final. The pair won the gold medal match in straight sets,
21-16, 21-16.
Disappointment
Tim Brabants was unable to defend his K1 1000m canoe sprint
title, finishing in eighth in this morning’s final. Canada’s Adam van Coeverden
had come into the final as favourite and burst out into an early lead, but he
fell away into second place as Norway’s Eirik Veras Larsen, who won the event
in Athens in 2004, came through to take gold.
Daniel Awde has been forced to withdraw from the decathlon
due to injury. Awde competed in this morning’s events, but a knee injury has
meant that he has decided to drop out of the competition.
Great Britain’s show jumpers were unable to back up their
team gold medal with individual glory. Nick Skelton and Scott Brash finished
with one fence down and Ben Mayer with two. But the medals went to riders
without fences down, Steve Guerdat taking gold with no penalties at all. There
was a jump-off for silver and bronze between two riders with only one time
fault, Ireland’s Cian O’Connor and Gerco Schroeder of the Netherlands, with the
Dutchman eventually claiming silver after an aggressive round in the jump-off.
The Great Britain women’s hockey team will face New Zealand
in the bronze medal match after defeat to Argentina. The Argentinians took a
first half 2-0 lead, before Great Britain pulled one back late in the second.
But they couldn’t level the scores, putting Argentina through to the gold medal
match against the Netherlands. They beat New Zealand on penalties after the
teams fought out a 2-2 draw after normal and extra time.
Other news
Details
have emerged about a Team GB victory parade scheduled for 10 September. The
parade will combine winners of both Olympic and Paralympic medals, and will end
at Buckingham Palace. It has also been suggested that children may be given the
day off school to attend.
The golden post box in Sheffield, painted by the Royal Mail
as a tribute to Jessica Ennis’ gold medal winning effort in the heptathlon, has
been vandalised. The Royal Mail has said it has repainted the post box as a
result of the vandalism.
And finally…
Garth Crooks suggested last night on the BBC that part of
the reason for Brazil’s success in the Olympic Games men’s football has been their
“4-2-1-3-1” formation, which would suggest that they play with twelve
players.
Cuban pole vaulter Lazaro Borges was lucky to escape without
injury after his pole snapped
into three as he attempted a vault of 5.35m in this morning’s qualifying.
He just missed out on qualifying for the final.
Updated medal table
No medal for Team GB today, but our place in third in the
medal table is still comfortable. Russia has joined Great Britain, China, USA
and South Korea with over ten gold medals. China remain at the top of the
table, but the USA has cut the gap after today’s events.
Tomorrow’s big events
Usain Bolt looks to complete the double-double as the men’s
200m final takes place, with the men’s 800m also reaching its end. The women’s
open water 10km swim goes ahead, and Great Britain has medal hopes in the
individual dressage. Boxing finals start tomorrow, and there are more canoe
sprint titles up for grabs. The women’s football gold medal match also takes
place tomorrow.
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